Indian Law Resource Center - Land Rightshttps://indianlaw.org/issue/land-rights
Our work with Indian peoples has for years drawn connections between indigenous land rights, environmental protection and human rights. In most indigenous cultures, separating these issues makes no sense. Our Mission Statement points out the intersection of these threats to indigenous peoples: "Indian nations and tribes and other indigenous communities throughout the world are afﬂicted by poverty, poor health and discrimination. Subjected to grave human rights abuses, many Native communities are under siege. Indian land and natural resources are often expropriated or degraded, and sometimes destroyed. When indigenous peoples are deprived of their ways of life and their ties to the earth, they suffer, and many have disappeared completely."Our projects with the Six Nations on their land claims in upstate New York, with the Yukon Inter-Tribal Watershed Council in Alaska and the Yukon Territory, with the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre Tribes of the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana have all been designed to address the over-arching issues of land, environment and human rights. And more recently, the Center has begun a new project with the support of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation to create a new framework of law relating to Indian lands and resources. This new framework of legal principles will be put forward to replace the present system of discriminatory, racist, and unjust legal rules relating to Indian lands.Please use the navigation on the left to read more about any one of these projects.enIndigenous Peoples in Brazil and the Amazonhttps://indianlaw.org/brazil
<p>The Indian Law Resource Center has a long history of work with indigenous peoples in Brazil, going back to 1979 when we brought the first indigenous rights case to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights arguing for demarcation of Yanomami land in the Amazon rainforest. The case and many years of advocacy in the Organization of American States and United Nations was part of a forceful and successful international campaign that led to the creation of a 23+ million acre Yanomami indigenous territory and expulsion of gold miners from the region.</p><p>Today, the rights and protections for the Yanomami and hundreds of other indigenous peoples in Brazil are threatening to unravel.</p><p>In October, 2018, Brazil elected Jair Bolsonaro as its next President. On the campaign trail, Bolsonaro pledged to scrap environmental laws, throw the Amazon open to ranchers and miners, and confiscate the lands of Brazil’s indigenous peoples. He said if he were elected President, "not one square centimeter” of Brazil will be reserved for the country's original inhabitants.</p><p>Since taking office in January, 2019, he is moving quickly in this devastating direction, instituting policies that severely weaken the government agencies that oversee protections for indigenous peoples and the environment to pave the way for agri-business, mining, logging, and unsustainable exploitation of the country’s natural resources. </p><p>The Bolsonaro administration argues that too much indigenous land is being set aside for the benefit of too few people. For the seven and a half billion people who inhabit the Earth and depend on the Amazon rainforest – the lungs of the planet – to combat climate change, Bolsonaro’s charge could not be further from the truth. </p><p>The Indian Law Resource Center is working with and assisting indigenous leaders and advocates in Brazil to bring international attention and world pressure to bear on the Brazil to ensure that it’s political leaders uphold the rights and protections guaranteed in Brazil’s Constitution and in international law and policy standards. As was proved in our work with the Yanomami, pressure from outside Brazil can be a tipping point to protecting indigenous lands and communities.</p><p>Domestically, we are working to ensure that indigenous peoples voices and concerns are respected and reflected in the financing decisions of the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES). BNDES has become one of the largest development banks in the world and provides financing for mega-infrastructure and energy projects that crisscross the entire continent with roads, oil pipelines, and energy lines without regard to the people who live in these areas and who depend on healthy ecosystems to maintain their cultural integrity, livelihoods, and physical survival.</p><p><u><strong>PROJECT UPDATES and RESOURCES</strong></u></p><p><a href="https://indianlaw.org/sites/default/files/documents/Statement%20of%20Solidarity%20re%20Brazil%20FINAL.pdf">Statement of Solidarity with indigenous peoples of Brazil</a> (March 2019) </p><p><a href="http://indianlaw.org/sites/default/files/documents/Nota%20Tecnica%201%202019%20assinada.pdf">Brazilian Attorney General's Legal Opinion on Bolsonaro's Provisional Measure No. 870</a> (March 2019) <em>*Available only in Portuguese</em></p><p><a href="https://indianlaw.org/sites/default/files/documents/CIDH%20Informe%20ENG_0.pdf">Report on the Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil</a> (February 2019) | (<a href="https://indianlaw.org/sites/default/files/documents/CIDH%20Informe%20SPA.pdf">Español</a>) (<a href="https://indianlaw.org/sites/default/files/documents/CIDH%20Informe.pdf">Português</a>)</p><p><a href="https://indianlaw.org/story/indigenous-organizations-denounce-bolsonaro%E2%80%99s-policies-inter-american-commission-human-rights">Indigenous organizations denounce Bolsonaro’s policies before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights</a> (February 2019) </p><p><a href="http://indianlaw.org/sites/default/files/documents/MPV%20870-2019.pdf">President Bolsonaro's Provisional Measure No.: MPV 870/2019 </a>(January 2019) *<em>Available only in Portuguese</em></p><hr /><p></p> <div id="block-block-50" class="block block-block share">
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Thu, 21 Mar 2019 16:09:27 +0000lisa1395 at https://indianlaw.orghttps://indianlaw.org/brazil#commentsThe American Declaration and Indigenous Land Ownership in Guatemalahttps://indianlaw.org/story/american-declaration-and-indigenous-land-ownership-guatemala
<div style="color: rgb(40, 40, 40); font-family: &quot;Segoe UI WPC&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Tahoma, &quot;Microsoft Sans Serif&quot;, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><a href="http://indianlaw.org/sites/default/files/Revista%20No.%202%20Nim%20Ajpu_1.pdf"><font face="Calibri,sans-serif" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Strengthening Ties With the Maya Lawyers Association of Guatemala: Senior Attorney Leonardo Crippa Contributes an Article to the Association’s Nim Ajpu Newsletter on the American Declaration and Indigenous Land Ownership in Guatemala </span></font></a></div><div style="color: rgb(40, 40, 40); font-family: &quot;Segoe UI WPC&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Tahoma, &quot;Microsoft Sans Serif&quot;, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><font face="Calibri,sans-serif" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></font></div> Thu, 28 Dec 2017 16:27:04 +0000ginny1343 at https://indianlaw.orghttps://indianlaw.org/story/american-declaration-and-indigenous-land-ownership-guatemala#commentsCenter Helps Prepare Indigenous Leaders in Brazil for Future Policy Workhttps://indianlaw.org/mdb/center-helps-prepare-indigenous-leaders-brazil-future-policy-work
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/Story/COIAB%20President%20Nara%20Bare%202.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 200px; margin: 10px; float: right;" />One of the largest indigenous organizations in South America, Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations from the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), has for the first time in its history, elected an indigenous woman to serve in its top post. In August, nearly 600 leaders representing indigenous communities throughout the Brazilian Amazon River basin, gathered at the Alto Rio Guamá village in the State of Pará to participate in COIAB’s assembly and elected Nara Baré to lead their work forward.</p><p>“I was moved by such a transparent and inclusive election that led to overwhelming support for Nara Baré,” said Leonardo Crippa, Center senior attorney. Crippa was invited to the COAIB’s assembly to give a presentation on public sector financial institutions’ policies and international legal standards on indigenous peoples. “I had the opportunity to meet Nara Baré and let her know how much we look forward to working with her and COAIB on protecting indigenous lands and territories in South America.”</p><p>Crippa’s presentation gave special attention to the World Bank’s new policy on indigenous peoples, the Environmental and Social Standard 7 Indigenous Peoples that was adopted last year. “Because of the constructive dialogue between COIAB and the Brazilian Development Bank, the leaders were genuinely interested in learning about banks’ policies on indigenous peoples, especially about measures designed to support community-led development projects and safeguard indigenous communities and their environment from harmful projects,” said Crippa.</p><p>The leaders were particularly pleased to learn about the safeguard measure adopted to protect indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation, because of a number of them are facing extinction in the Brazilian Amazon region. The World Bank’s Standard 7 on Indigenous Peoples states that “the Borrower will take appropriate measures to recognize, respect and protect their land and territories, environment, health and culture, as well as measures to avoid all undesired contact with them as a consequence of the project. The aspects of the project that would result in such undesired contact will not be processed further.”</p><p>“This is one of the many good outcomes of long-standing advocacy carried out by indigenous leaders and experts from the Americas,” said Crippa. For many years, leaders such as Haroldo Salazar Rossi, a leader of the Ashaninka People from Peru, have called attention to the need to ensure legal and policy safeguard measures for indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation along the Amazon River basin. As a result, they have also succeeded in winning protections in both domestic laws—e.g. Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay—and in the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was approved by the Organization of American States in June, 2016.</p><p>The Center is continuing to work with COAIB’s leaders and indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Amazon to build their policy advocacy capacity and help them engage in policy making processes.</p> Fri, 08 Dec 2017 17:04:10 +0000ginny1340 at https://indianlaw.orghttps://indianlaw.org/mdb/center-helps-prepare-indigenous-leaders-brazil-future-policy-work#commentsLíder de la Comunidad Agua Caliente Lote 9 Recibe Premio Ambiental Goldman 2017https://indianlaw.org/mqlr/l%C3%ADder-de-la-comunidad-agua-caliente-recibe-premio-ambiental-goldman-2017
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/images/2017_RodrigoTot_profile.jpg" style="width: 266px; height: 350px; margin: 10px; float: right;" />(SAN FRANCISCO) - La Fundación Ambiental Goldman anunció hoy que Rodrigo Tot ha sido nombrado como uno de los seis galardonados del Premio Ambiental Goldman 2017, el premio más importante a nivel mundial para líderes y activistas ambientalistas de base.</p><p>Otorgado anualmente a héroes ambientalistas de cada una de las seis regiones continentales habitadas, el Premio Goldman busca reconocer a activistas de base por su importante labor y triunfo en proteger al medio ambiente y a sus comunidades.</p><p>Rodrigo Tot y la comunidad Maya Q'eqchi' Agua Caliente Lote 9 han estado involucrados en una batalla de 40 años para proteger sus tierras y recursos naturales contra los intereses mineros. El Centro de Recursos Jurídicos para los Pueblos Indígenas (ILRC por sus siglas en inglés) ha ayudado a la comunidad indígena a plantear sus preocupaciones ante la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos.</p><p>"Rodrigo y su comunidad han enfrentado años de abusos a sus derechos humanos por parte del gobierno de Guatemala y las compañías mineras," dijo Armstrong Wiggins, director de la oficina del Centro en Washington, DC. "Estamos agradecidos a la Fundación Ambiental Goldman por reconocer la lucha de Rodrigo y por ayudar a hacer pública esta importante cuestión.”</p><p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HI7iAKssDV8?rel=0&amp;controls=0&amp;showinfo=0" height="315" frameborder="0" width="560"></iframe></p><p>En el 2006, el gobierno de Guatemala emitió un permiso de explotación minera a una compañía de níquel, pasando por alto los esfuerzos de Agua Caliente para formalizar sus títulos de propiedad, un claro acto de incumplimiento con las leyes nacionales e internacionales. Guatemala violó sus derechos a la propiedad, al autogobierno, al debido proceso legal y a la protección judicial, al no otorgar el título de las tierras a las comunidades y al otorgar el permiso de extracción sin haber antes consultado con las comunidades afectadas, incluyendo la comunidad de Agua Caliente.</p><p>Esta clara violación de sus derechos motivo a los líderes de Agua Caliente a abrir un caso ante la Corte de Guatemala, un caso que ganaron en el 2011. La Corte de Constitucionalidad, el máximo tribunal en materia constitucional, tomó una decisión que estableció un precedente en la región, la cual reconoció formalmente los derechos de tierra de la comunidad Agua Caliente y ordenó al poder ejecutivo a tomar todas las medidas correctivas que fueren necesarias para titular adecuadamente las tierras de Agua Caliente. Guatemala no ha cumplido plenamente con el fallo; la comunidad de Agua Caliente aun esta a espera de su título de propiedad de tierra.</p><p>"El otorgamiento del Premio Ambiental Goldman ha llegado en un muy buen momento, pues ayudará a llamar la atención sobre este importante caso legal," dijo Leonardo Crippa, abogado principal del Centro en el caso de Agua Caliente ante la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos. "La Comisión Interamericana ha acordado revisar nuestra petición, la cual busca obtener justicia para la comunidad de Agua Caliente."</p><p>Rodrigo Tot ha pagado un alto precio por su activismo y liderazgo entre la comunidad Agua Caliente. En Octubre del 2012, su hijo mayor fue asesinado y su muerte fue encubierta como un robo a mano armada; su hijo menor resultó herido en el ataque y fue dado por muerto. Sin embargo, este incidente sólo ha redoblado su determinación a continuar luchando por esta causa. </p><p>Haga clic <a href="http://www.goldmanprize.org/blog/introducing-2017-goldman-prize-winners/">aquí</a> para ver los otros galardonados del Premio Ambiental Goldman de este año.<br /> </p><p><strong>Artículos Relacionado</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://apnews.com/4647340815c3437c96512e4d5533c24e/Ind%C3%ADgena-guatemalteco-gana-el-Premio-Ambiental-Goldman?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_medium=AP_Noticias">Indígena guatemalteco gana el Premio Ambiental Goldman (Associated Press)</a></p>
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Mon, 24 Apr 2017 21:09:34 +0000ginny1307 at https://indianlaw.orghttps://indianlaw.org/mqlr/l%C3%ADder-de-la-comunidad-agua-caliente-recibe-premio-ambiental-goldman-2017#commentsGuatemala: Agua Caliente case moves forwardhttps://indianlaw.org/mqlr/guatemala-agua-caliente-case-moves-forward
<p style="text-align: right;"><img alt="" class="floatright" src="/sites/default/files/images/2006-10 agua caliente community 43-2t_0.jpg" style="width: 350px; height: 206px; float: right; margin: 10px;" title="Agua caliente community" /></p><p>Agua Caliente, a Q’eqchi’ Maya community in Guatemala, is one step closer to having their case heard by an international human rights body. In February 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights transferred Agua Caliente’s petition to Guatemala and set a three-month deadline to receive its responsive brief. The move by the Commission formally launched the first phase of the procedure, during which the petition’s admissibility requirements will be fully discussed. <br /><br />“In procedural terms, this is a major step forward”, said Leonardo A. Crippa, a Center Senior Attorney. The admissibility phase marks the beginning of a considerable legal discussion between the government of Guatemala and the Center, which serves as legal counsel representing Agua Caliente in the international arena. The merits of the case will be addressed in the second phase of the process.<br /><br />For over 40 years, Agua Caliente has used legal means to secure recognition of their land rights, faced serious threats and violations to their human rights, including numerous attempts to evict the community from their traditional lands to make way for nickel mining. Agua Caliente has never resorted to protests or blocked roads to make their demands.<br /><br />In February 2011, Agua Caliente won a major victory when a precedent setting decision by Guatemala’s Constitutional Court recognized the community’s collective property rights to its lands and asked governmental agencies to issue a title recognizing said rights. This meant that the mining permits and attempted evictions were in violation of the community's land rights. Guatemala , in essence, ignored this historic ruling by not enforcing it. Indeed, despite the court ruling, Agua Caliente has still not received its land title yet. <br /><br />Agua Caliente is a small Q’eqchi’ Maya Community located in the municipality of El Estor, department of Izabal, Guatemala. Agua Caliente is composed of about 76 families, and the majority of the population are children and elders. Almost all community members are monolingual; that is, they only speak their native language: Q’eqchi’ Maya. <br /><br />Seeking international protection is now part of Agua Caliente’s pursuit of justice. In August 2011, Agua Caliente filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against Guatemala, because its actions and omissions violated the community’s land rights, which are protected by the American Convention on Human Rights. The Commission is competent to hear this case because Guatemala has ratified this human rights treaty. Because of the particular nature of Agua Caliente’s petition, last year the Commission granted a <em>per saltum</em> to process the petition right away despite a considerable case backlog.</p><p>The Commission’s transfer of the petition to Guatemala is an important development in the procedure, and it arrives at a critical time. With the reactivation of mining activities, violence has escalated in El Estor. Q’eqchi’ leaders, such as Rodrigo Tot, President of the Agua Caliente Community, have been targets for threats and intimidation by the company’s security forces.<br /><br />“The Commission’s decision to get started with the legal discussion of our petition will pave the way to confirm that the state-issued mining permits and the company’s mining activities violate the land rights of the Q’eqchi’ people, especially of my community,” said Tot.<br /><br />“The backlog issue has been overcome, and there is no way to go backwards in this case. The time has arrived to start discussing our legal concerns on the state-business connection around the Fenix mining project from an international human rights law viewpoint,” said Crippa.</p> Fri, 08 May 2015 15:42:01 +0000ginny1080 at https://indianlaw.orghttps://indianlaw.org/mqlr/guatemala-agua-caliente-case-moves-forward#commentsPanel Discussion Highlights Need to Safeguard Indigenous Peoples’ Collective Ownership Rightshttps://indianlaw.org/content/panel-discussion-highlights-need-safeguard-indigenous-peoples%E2%80%99-collective-ownership-rights
<p>On October 9, the Center hosted a panel discussion to highlight Indigenous Peoples’ land rights and the impacts of development activities financed by the World Bank. The event, “Indigenous Peoples’ Lands and Development: World Bank Interventions and Lessons Learned”, was held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC.</p><p>The panel brought together development and indigenous rights experts to identify key issues regarding indigenous peoples and land. Drawing examples from past Bank-financed projects, panelists showed that when indigenous peoples’ lands are at issue, development outcomes often depend on the extent to which projects recognize indigenous peoples’ special relationship to, and collective ownership rights over, their lands and resources.</p><p>Liza Grandia, Associate Professor of Native American Studies at the University of California-Davis described how a World Bank-financed land administration project in Guatemala, which operated in a legal context that didn’t provide sufficient protection for the Maya Q’eqchi peoples’ collective ownership rights, ended up resulting in land grabs and loss of sacred sites. “We found that 46% of smallholders had sold or been forced to sell their land within five years,” stated Grandia. Even though indigenous peoples had the right under the Guatemalan Peace Accords to reconstitute their communal lands, Grandia explained that “as this project was executed, no communities were ever given the opportunity to make choices other than the private titling that they had been channeled into during the civil war.”</p><p>Alf Jerve, a member of the World Bank’s Inspection Panel, which investigates complaints by communities impacted by Bank-financed projects, described the lessons learned during panel investigations. Although Bank policies require that particular attention be paid to the customary rights of indigenous peoples, explained Jerve, “we find that some of these safeguards were not applied or were not applied effectively.” Jerve also observed that in some cases, providing collective land titling was given less priority than individual titling, and project plans failed to contain sufficient legal analysis of protection of customary land use and land rights.</p><p>Isabel Lavadenz-Paccieri, a former Project Team Leader at the World Bank described the project to demarcate and title indigenous territories in Nicaragua and to support legal reform recognizing indigenous peoples’ land rights, in implementation of the landmark Awas Tingni decision by the Inter-American Court. As a result of the project, more than fifteen indigenous communities were titled in Nicaragua. In addition, the project had a “multiplier effect” in the Caribbean region, leading to demarcation and titling benefiting more than 130 indigenous communities.</p><p>The Center is advocating that in the Bank’s updating of its policies and strategies, it strengthen protection for indigenous peoples’ land and resource rights. “The World Bank needs to provide clarity regarding collective ownership rights of indigenous peoples to their land within the Bank’s safeguard framework,” explained Center Senior Attorney, Leonardo Crippa. “This is important for the Bank in order to achieve better development results, prevent land conflicts, and guide countries to strengthen their land governance systems.”</p><p align="left">Click <strong><a href="http://indianlaw.org/mdb/Oct-2013-panel">here</a></strong> to access more videos and other materials from the event.<br /> </p>
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Thu, 07 Nov 2013 19:01:43 +0000lisa1014 at https://indianlaw.orghttps://indianlaw.org/content/panel-discussion-highlights-need-safeguard-indigenous-peoples%E2%80%99-collective-ownership-rights#commentsInter-American Development Bank to Investigate Harmful Wind Power Project in Mexicohttps://indianlaw.org/indig-notes/IDB-investigating-oaxaca-wind-project
<p align="left">A massive wind farm project, partially funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), is under investigation by the IDB’s Panel of Investigators for negatively impacting seven indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Center is providing legal assistance to the communities to ensure that there is an independent investigation of the project and that their concerns are properly addressed by the IDB’s Board of Directors.</p><p align="left">“The IDB failed to secure the project-affected indigenous communities full and effective participation in the design of the project, which has led to violations of the communities’ rights, especially their ownership rights to land and resources,” said Center Senior Attorney Leonardo Crippa.</p><p align="left">The project area located in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico includes a wind farm, transmission lines and roads that directly impact community lands. On December 26, 2012, the Center filed a request on behalf of seven indigenous communities located in the project area with the <a href="http://www.iadb.org/en/mici/independent-consultation-and-investigation-mechanism-icim,1752.html#.UmlvGHDkuH_">Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism</a>. The project investigation will look into the adverse impacts inflicted upon the communities and their environment and non-compliance with the IDB’s Indigenous Peoples Policy, among other operational policies. Based on its findings, the Panel will issue recommendations to the IDB’s Board of Directors for appropriate, corrective and remedial actions.</p><p align="left">This filing also is part of the Center’s attempt to test the procedural rules that govern the IDB’s accountability mechanism to assess whether or not it effectively processes communities concerns over projects. In February 2010, the IDB’s Board of Directors approved the policy that created the Panel of Investigators and a Project Ombudsperson as the mechanism’s main organs, but also established their procedural rules. This particular policy is now under review.</p><p align="left">The Center is deeply concerned about this policy. In early October, we filed written <a href="http://www.indianlaw.org/sites/default/files/2013-10-01%20MICI%20Policy%20Comments%20SPA%281%29.pdf">comments</a> with the IDB about the policy and review process. The first stage of the process, which extended from August to October, relied heavily on electronic means and did not promote the participation of indigenous peoples and project-affected communities.</p><p align="left">“Bank Staff sitting in Washington, D.C. should not expect to receive electronic inputs from indigenous peoples living in the Amazon or the Andean region—almost all them lack internet access and do not own computers,” stated Center’s Washington Office Director Armstrong Wiggins.</p><p align="left">The Center is particularly concerned about the “judicial clause” which essentially allows the IDB’s accountability mechanism to reject requests from indigenous communities because of pending judicial or arbitral processes at the national and international level. This undermines indigenous communities access to fair and just review of their complaints.</p><p align="left">“The Bank has failed to consider the participation of indigenous peoples in the first stage of the review—no information about indigenous participation whatsoever exists in the <a href="http://www.iadb.org/en/civil-society/public-consultations/independent-consultation-investigation-mechanism-2013/the-independent-consultation-and-investigation-mechanism-starts-public-consultation,8613.html#.Umlvo3DkuH8">website</a> dedicated to this process,” said Crippa.</p><p align="left">The Center encourages the IDB to take proactive actions aimed at seeking indigenous peoples’ views throughout this policy. Indigenous communities are the ones that will ultimately resort to this mechanism, which should be able to voice their concerns over IDB-funded projects.</p> Thu, 07 Nov 2013 18:50:51 +0000lisa1013 at https://indianlaw.orghttps://indianlaw.org/indig-notes/IDB-investigating-oaxaca-wind-project#commentsDeath Valley tribe appeals vote on new constitutionhttps://indianlaw.org/tst/death-valley-tribe-appeals-vote-new-constitution
<p><img alt="" src="http://pvtimes.com/sites/pvtimes.com/files/pvtimes-mobile.png" style="width: 400px; height: 60px;" /><br />By Mark Waite<br /><a href="mailto:mwaite@pvtimes.com">mwaite@pvtimes.com</a></p><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-item even"><p>WASHINGTON, D.C. — Timbisha Shoshone tribal leaders filed two administrative appeals Monday to stop a vote on a proposed new constitution scheduled for Nov. 4. Leaders claim the proposed constitution would revoke the existing constitution adopted by the Tribe in 1986 and establish many non-Timbisha as new tribal members.</p><p>“The proposed constitution has been drafted by outsiders who have convinced the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to call a BIA supervised election to approve the constitution,” said Joe Kennedy, chairman of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, who was deposed by a new council. “Because of unjustifiable BIA interference in the self-governance of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, a block of voters with no known connection to the tribe may soon control a federally recognized Indian tribe.”</p><p><img alt="" class="floatright" src="/sites/default/files/images/IMG_0928_0.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 143px; float: right; margin: 3px 15px;" />The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, based in Death Valley, Calif., has historically exercised its sovereignty and inherent power of self-government by determining for itself the requirements for tribal membership. These requirements are established in the existing Timbisha Shoshone Constitution.</p><p>In 2008, the Tribal Enrollment Committee performed an annual review of the membership rolls and determined that 74 individuals did not meet the membership requirements of the Timbisha Constitution. The Timbisha Enrollment Committee then applied their existing laws and dis-enrolled these individuals, providing each person an opportunity for appeal. None of these non-members has ever presented any evidence to dispute the Enrollment Committee’s findings that they were ineligible for membership.</p><p>In 2011, the Interior Department decided not to recognize the duly elected Timbisha Tribal Council and ordered the Timbisha to hold a new election and to allow these individuals who had been dis-enrolled to vote and to run for tribal office. The Interior Department ordered that the election be run by a group that was dominated by these non-members. Neither the existing Tribal Council nor the Tribal Election Board was involved in those decisions. The result led to a shift in leadership and eventually to the proposed constitution that would allow previously identified non-members and many others to become members.</p><p>The main ground for both of the appeals is that the election called by the BIA will allow many persons to vote who are not members of the Tribe and who do not meet the membership requirements of the Timbisha Constitution. The appeals call for the election to be stopped and for the Interior Department to take action to assure that persons who do not meet the requirements for membership do not receive benefits intended only for members of the Tribe and that such persons are not permitted to vote and hold office in the Tribe.</p><p>Robert T. Coulter, executive director of the Indian Law Resource Center and lead counsel on the appeals, says that the BIA’s actions violate federal law and regulations in many respects.</p><p>“The BIA cannot be allowed to arbitrarily select or create the tribal government with which they will engage; the BIA must not be allowed to ignore and violate tribal constitutions; and they must not interfere with a tribe’s sovereign authority to decide for themselves who is, and who is not, a tribal citizen,” Coulter said.</p><p>The Indian Law Resource Center, a non-profit law and advocacy organization based in Helena, Mont., established and directed by American Indians, provides legal assistance without charge to Indian and Alaska Native tribes.</p><p><img alt="" class="floatleft" src="/sites/default/files/images/IMG_0905_1.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 391px; float: left; margin: 5px 15px;" />Pauline Esteves, who was a member of the deposed Timbisha Shoshone Tribal Council, said the BIA had to decide who was the legal government, Kennedy’s tribal council or a council headed by chairman George Gholson. The dispute over enrollment created a controversy over who was eligible to vote.</p><p>In March 2011, the Inyo Register reported there had been two ongoing elections, one in Bishop, the other in Furnace Creek, until Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk recognized Gholson’s council. Echo Hawk stated there were 137 votes cast in the Bishop election versus about 74 in Furnace Creek. Echo Hawk added the election in Death Valley was flawed because it included 74 members who were wrongfully enrolled.</p><p>Newly-elected tribal council members were seated May 31, 2011, with Gholson the chairman.</p><p>Esteves said Gholson’s group overthrew their government. They then wanted to change their constitution, which was never ratified by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, but it’s the constitution the tribe has always followed.</p><p>“Gholson started to freeze all the accounts, so we would move our accounts to a different bank,” Esteves said. “He warned the banks if they didn’t freeze the accounts he would sue them. It was really dirty business.”</p><p>“After Echo Hawk made a decision Gholson was the leader of the tribal government, Gholson came down here and took everything out of the office here. He had a locksmith come down and pry open some of the locks,” she said. “They don’t care, those people in the Bishop office. they do things without any policies.”</p><p>Gholson was unavailable for comment by presstime.</p></div></div><p> </p> Mon, 28 Oct 2013 16:54:45 +0000lisa1008 at https://indianlaw.orghttps://indianlaw.org/tst/death-valley-tribe-appeals-vote-new-constitution#commentsAppealshttps://indianlaw.org/tst/update
<span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png" /> <a href="/file/2874/download?token=BquGyORE" type="application/pdf; length=1287817">Download 2014-03-12 Notice of Appeal of Regional Director Decision to IBIA.pdf</a> <span class="file-size">(1.23 MB)</span></span> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png" /> <a href="/file/2875/download?token=4JpTAP91" type="application/pdf; length=1598521">Download 2014-03-12 Notice of Appeal of Superintendent Decision.pdf</a> <span class="file-size">(1.52 MB)</span></span> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png" /> <a href="/file/3058/download?token=y86BBUDD" type="application/pdf; length=5018376">Download TS Contest of the Results of Secretarial Election of March 29, 2014.pdf</a> <span class="file-size">(4.79 MB)</span></span> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png" /> <a href="/file/3059/download?token=jA0hZrOt" type="application/pdf; length=1776352">Download 2014-07-21 IBIA Threshold Issues Opening Brief(2).pdf</a> <span class="file-size">(1.69 MB)</span></span> Mon, 02 Aug 2010 19:23:31 +0000admin607 at https://indianlaw.orghttps://indianlaw.org/tst/update#commentsMaya Q'eqchi' Land and Resource Rightshttps://indianlaw.org/mqlr/home
<p><!--break--><big><img alt="" class="floatright" src="/sites/default/files/images/Story/IMG_8050.jpg" style="width: 400px; height: 267px; margin: 10px; float: right;" /></big>In Guatemala, extractive industry and conservation projects are threatening the special relationship the indigenous peoples have with their lands and resources. For several decades, the Maya Q’eqchi’ communities of El Estor have worked hard to achieve recognition of their collective land ownership through Guatemala’s land titling system. This ineffective system, coupled with the lack of legislation upholding indigenous peoples’ full collective ownership of lands under their possession and governmental authority to manage their natural resources, has been deliberately used to pave the way for third party’s projects on indigenous lands.<br /><br />The Center has taken legal actions to support the Maya Q’eqchi’. We believe that keeping indigenous lands in indigenous ownership is critical to ensure indigenous peoples’ physical and cultural survival, prevent land-related conflicts, meet conservation goals and combat climate change. Land-related conflicts are marked by murders of indigenous leaders, violence, political unrest, and clashes over resource development. These human rights abuses stemming from indigenous peoples’ lack of ownership over their lands and resources must come to an end.<br /> </p> Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:12:30 +0000admin579 at https://indianlaw.orghttps://indianlaw.org/mqlr/home#comments